2012... A Year at a Glance

I had set a goal this would be a year where I would focus on making my life more SIMPLE. Little did I realize blogging would fall on my list of things I would end up cutting away in the name of simplicity. SIMPLICITY is good, but I think at times it's also overrated.  I really have missed the outlet blogging gives me to share "happenings" of my life and all that God is doing to make me the best I can be.

As I reflect on the past year, I am chuckling inside at as hard as I tried to keep things in my life more simple, the reality is in this season of life, things tend to be far from simple.  Any middle aged woman with a family can testify to this! I can try as hard as I may, but family and all our different "happenings" is in a season that is busy, complicated, sometimes stressful and wonderful at the same time is not simple.

January 2012
The year began with two immediate burdens. The first, Kirk took a job as a temporary means (one year commitment) as a civilian defense contractor flying in Afghanistan.  This job was a blessing for him to stay current and earn some income while he waited to get a commercial flying offer in the US. The other burden was to fix a VERY messed up garage from bottom to top.  This garage was in bad shape when we bought our "fixer upper", but had deteriorated even more in the past two years. I got to start the garage project on my own since Kirk left for Afghanistan January 9.

Garage issues~ the foundation needed major repairs on most of the sides since the original structure was built MANY YEARS AGO as a pole barn with the walls framed on top of pressure treated wood laying directly on dirt floors! Needles to say, pressure treated wood on top of dirt eventually rots!

Many roof issues, too.  Repairs and a re-roofing was necessary.

I got to use my new cement mixer I received for Christmas (2011) to pour cement footings around the perimeter of the garage! I jacked the sagging wall and used temporary beams to hold the structure up.

Mixing my mud!  I love it!!!

February 2012
Andrew finishes his high school swim year very strong!  Andrew had constant improvements on his freestyle times. His Relay team broke two school records this year (200 Free Relay and 200 Medley Relay) and broke one District Record (200 Medley Relay).  We are certainly proud of our "Beast".

Andrew is third guy from the left (in the back)

March 2012

Kirk comes home this month from being away in Afghanistan for 73 days.

I forgot something VERY important when going out for a couple hours to mow our 2 acre property...  OUCH!  Lesson learned.

First week of March, while walking home from school, Andrew called me on his cell phone to bring his gun.  He killed the first rattle snake of the year- about 3 foot long (6 rattles).

Andrew, Joe, Jessie, and Kelsie.
Kelsie surprises us at home in Texas with a visit from college (TN) over her spring break.

The garage project continues!

Kirk came home end of March, and we decided the whole side of the garage was too rotten to not rebuild, so we demolished it and rebuilt it.

April 2012

As a treat for having been a single parent for the past couple months, Kirk gave me a "vacation" and I flew to WA state for 6 days to visit my family (mom, dad, sister, brother, etc.)  My sister, Traci (a high school teacher), was on her spring break this time frame, so we got to hang out the entire time at mom and dad's house!

Traci, Curtis, (me) Teri
Dad and Mom

I get to meet my niece, Emily, for the first time!

Kristina, Emily, Bryson, and Curtis (my brother)
Love you guys!

The Eccles Kids
Emily, Tyler, and Bryson

The week before Kirk leaves to go back to Afghanistan, we tried to finish the cement fiber board siding on the garage... we didn't quite finish it all the way.

May 2012
Kids winding down their school year preparing for summer break, as Kirk prepares to go on another rotation out of the country.

Teri and Kirk...
Family time at the beach the day before Kirk leaves to go back to Afghanistan.

...since Kirk and I didn't finish the siding before he left the country, I finished the back and front (top lap siding and all the trim) on my own, as well as installation of a new garage light on the front.  Yeah me!

Kelsie came home from college and wasted no time getting ready for her new summer job as camp counselor at "Camp Travis" children's summer camp.  Jessie and Joe help Kelsie make a poster for the first week of camp.

June 2012
With the kids being out of school and Kirk in Afghanistan, we kept things low key and worked on projects around the house.  Andrew helped take the vinyl siding off the front in prep of building a new front porch and re-siding it with fiber cement board.

Andrew busy helping me take down old siding.  He was paid $10.00 an hour for his work on the house.

Andrew decides to use some of his earned money to buy lumber to build a skateboard ramp in the back yard with plans he found on the internet.

Andrew tests out his ramp.

Our German Shepherd, Heidi, almost died with
HGE (Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis).  We got her to the vet in time (Emergency room visit on a Sunday).  She was admitted for three days and her life was saved through aggressive meds and IV. 

July 2012
The kids return back to school mid month, Kirk comes home from Afghanistan.

4th of July~ Kirk is flying over Afghanistan war zone with several American flags he plans to give as gifts to some family and friends.

4th of July in Corpus Christi... Andrew and his girlfriend, Haleigh, enjoy some fire works.

August 2012
Kelsie prepares for her second year of college in Cleveland TN, while Kirk prepares for testing and a job interview in Memphis with FedEx.

A quilt started in 8th grade, Kelsie decides to finish it to give as a Birthday gift to her college room mate, Emily.  Emily wrote and recorded the most beautiful song, "Floral Prints and Innocence",  for Kelsie as a gift for her birthday in May. 

With her iced coffee in hand and car loaded up, Kelsie is ready to hit the road for the long 2 day drive to Tennessee!

Kelsie's and her apartment mates at Lee University, 2012-13
Emily, Madalyn, Abby, and Kelsie

Getting rid of the existing sidewalk (was broken and dangerous).

The projects seem never ending!

Early August Kirk got the official invitation to go to Memphis later in the month for the different stages of getting hired with FedEx.  Kirk passed them all with flying colors.  We praise God for answered prayer that Kirk was given a job offer with such a great company.  As I write this post, Kirk is in a pool of new hire pilots waiting for a training date to begin.  It is not unheard of for new hires to wait 1-9 months to start their training; Kirk is going on 5 months. We are hoping for a February '13 class date.

September 2012

Awe... country living! Andrew and Haleigh (his girlfriend) shoot skeet for something to do.

The front porch construction is under way!

October 2012
My mom and dad made a road trip to South Texas for a visit (from WA state).

Mom and Dad, Jerielle and Jerry.

Jessie celebrates her 11th birthday while her Grandma and Grandpa visit.

Grandma and Grandpa Eccles with the kids
(Kelsie not pictured)

Halloween 2012
The Nerd and the Pilot.

Far Out!  Andrew and Haleigh.

Framed for a new sidewalk. as the progress SLOWLY continues.

November 2012

A roof is beginning to take form.

Andrew shares with us he wants to get baptized! He takes this step of faith on November 7th at our church's [Bay Area Fellowship] first Wednesday Church Service.

Kelsie participates in Tae Kwon Do while attending Lee University.  She had her first tournament  in Chattanooga and placed 1st (gold) in One Step Sparring and 3rd (bronze) in Ho-am Form.  There were 8 girls in her ring.

December 2012
The end of the year winds down.  Kelsie comes home for a month (Dec. 8 - Jan 7) for winter break.  We enjoy a quiet holiday in Corpus Christi.

Jessie (age 11), Andrew (age 17), Kelsie (age 19)
Teri (me), Joe (age 8), Kirk

YUMMM- decorating cookies!

 Our Mocha kitty!  [full name- Mocha Honey Catdog Wymore]

We made gingerbread houses and Joe's collapsed (he's not too happy)

Joe "re-poses" for this photo to show his "happy face" since we told him he could eat his collapsed house.


OVERALL 2012
It was a great year.  My family and I had a lot of neat memories and each of us grew in positive directions in different ways.  An awe-ha [God convicting] growth moment for me was FINALLY to get serious about my unhealthy 40+ pound weight gain that has crept on me over the past 4 years and my lack of fitness. On Sept. 4, Kirk and I decided to begin our journey to "get healthy"!  We installed a MyFitnessPal app on our new smart phone and began a health journey to lose weight the HEALTH WAY!  For me it meant no more fad diets, diet pills, protein shakes, or wishful thinking to lose the weight... all of these never worked and left me feeling more defeated.  This time, with the help of MyFitnessPal (and RunKeeper), I got back to the "simplicity" of calories burned needs to be more than calories taken in. MFP put me on a 1200 a day calorie intake and I began a walk/jog program on RunKeeper.  I began this journey early September at 168 pounds and by mid December have lost 23 pounds (145 pounds) with 20 more to go for the new year.  Kirk has lost over 13 pounds so far.

At 172 pounds in May, the heaviest I've ever been.

Healthy choices + faithful action = a healthier happier me!

(almost 30 pounds lighter from above photo)

God is my Everything; I am thankful for His love, provisions, protection and blessings this past year.  I am excited for all He has for me and my family in 2013.  I look forward for the year to unfold in the hope of deliberate accomplishment and victory.   

My Focus and word for 2013 is: DELIBERATE   remembering that through Christ, accomplishing my goals and dreams are possible.